Public art
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Public art is art that is exposed in a public space, either an outdoor location or in a publicly accessible building.
Much public art is in the form of monuments and memorials, such as statues and allegorical figures; but modern art brought with it non-figurative public art, including art whose function is not to commemorate but to complement the natural or built environment in which it stands.
Public art is usually of durable, easily cared-for material, especially that exhibited in non-controlled environments, particularly outdoors. Sculptural materials include stone, concrete, and metals such as bronze, steel, and aluminum; flat art media include durable murals. Public art may be integrated with architecture and landscaping in the creation or renovation of buildings and sites.
Some public artists use the freedom afforded by an outdoor site to create very large works that would be unfeasible in a gallery. Amongst the works of the last 30 years that have met greatest critical and popular acclaim are pieces by Robert Smithson, Christo and Anthony Gormley where the artwork reacts to or incorporates its environment.
Public artists range from the greatest masters such as Michelangelo, Pablo Picasso, and Joan Miró, to artists who specialize in public art such as Claes Oldenburg and Pierre Granche, to anonymous artists who make surreptitious interventions.
Public art is usually installed with the authorization and collaboration of the government or company that owns or administers the space. Some governments actively encourage the creation of public art, for example, budgeting for artworks in new buildings. It is fairly common for governments to require that 1% of constructions costs be spent on public art, but the 1% requirement is implemented in a variety of ways. The government of Quebec requires that the budget for all new publicly funded buildings set aside 1% for artwork. New York City has a law that requires that no less than 1% of the first twenty million dollars, plus no less than one half of 1% of the amount exceeding twenty million dollars be allocated for art work in any public building that is owned by the city. The maximum allocation for any site is $400,000. In contrast, the city of Toronto requires that 1% all of construction costs be set aside for public art, with no set upper limit (although in some circumstances, the municipality and the developer might negotiate a maximum amount).
Many large companies such as banks and insurance companies invest in large art collections which they display in the public spaces of their buildings. Even fast food restaurants such as McDonald's have purchased art and install the art in some of their restaurants.
Public art is sometimes intentionally sited for areas where it will receive a great deal of viewers, for example in a metro station or opera house. The converse would be an area set aside for public art, such as a sculpture garden.
However, public art is also often used by alienated or radical political groups and emerging artists to promote their goal or to establish the censorship-free contact between viewer and artist. Some public art is intended to be ephemeral, going so far as to include temporary installations and performance pieces. In some cases the line between graffiti and "guerrilla" public art is blurred, for example in the case of the early works of Keith Haring, executed without permission in advertising poster holders in the New York City Subway.
In many cases public artworks of that kind -- mostly murals -- are spontaneously created in the urban environment, often without the consent of authorities or in case of political struggle, against the law. Most murals of that kind are called graffiti and are considered pure vandalism by the society at large. But sometimes that type of public art is, in fact, an effective tool of social emancipation or achieving a political goal. There are many examples of spontaneous public art getting official recognition: worth mentioning are, for example, world famous Belfast and LA murals which, in time of conflict, have been the only existing communication for a members of socially, ethnically and racially divided community's and proved to be an effective tool in establishing a dialog and hence solving the cleavage in the long run.
On the contrary, state sponsored public art, particularly murals, are often used by totalitarian regimes as a tool of mass-control and propaganda. However disputed the propagandist character of such works, some still have artistic value.
In some cases the funding or siting of public art can prove controversial leading to heated debates about who has control of the public realm. Richard Serra's Tilted Arc was removed from a New York City plaza in 1989 after a concerted campaign by office workers who found their routine was disrupted by the work leading to a public court hearing that found against the work.
Victor Pasmore's Apollo Pavilion in the English New Town of Peterlee has been a focus for local politicians and groups complaints about the governance of the town and allocation of resources. In this case artists and cultural leaders from the region have mounted a campaign to re-habilitate the reputation of the work with the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art commissioning artists Jane and Louise Wilson to make a video installation about the piece in 2003.
House a large 1993-4 work by Rachel Whiteread in East London was destroyed by the local council after a few months - in this case the artist and her agent had only secured temporary permission for the work.
Bibliography
- Public Art by the Book, edited by Barbara Goldstein. 2005.
- Mapping the Terrain: New Genre Public Art, edited by Suzanne Lacy.
- Art, Space and the City: Public Art and Urban Futures by Malcolm Miles. 1997.
- Spirit Poles and Flying Pigs: Public Art and Cultural Democracy in American Communities,
by Erika Lee Doss. 1995
- Critical Issues in Public Art: Content, Context, and Controversy, by
Harriet Senie and Sally Webster. 1993.
- Art For Public Places: Critical Essays, by Malcolm Miles et al. 1989.
- The Lansing Area Arts Attitude Survey, by Suzanne Love and Kim Dammers. Michigan State University Center for Urban Affairs. 1978?
External links
- Percent for Art Program
- Government of Quebec - Integration of art with architecture: gallery of works (in French)
- Links to various public art programs in the United States
- ArtRod organizes the avant-garde interactive public art project, Tollbooth Gallery
- The Big Easel
- University of Southern California Public Art Studies Program